Capital city auction activity is set to reduce by -4.9% week-on-week with 1,850 homes expected to go under the hammer, down from the 1,945 auctioned last week.

This decrease could be the commencement of the usual seasonal winter decline in auction activity, when the number of weekly auctions would typically trend lower with many vendors waiting for spring to bring their homes to market. This time last year a reduction of -6.5% occurred week-on-week when 2,364 homes were auctioned across the combined capitals.

Sydney is set to host the most auctions this week, with 782 homes scheduled across the city, bucking the seasonal slowdown to be up 2.4% from last week’s 764 auctions held, but down -12.1% on the 890 held this week last year. In line with nationwide trends, Saturday continues to be Sydney’s most popular day for auctions with 79.5% of the week’s activity scheduled.  Sydney is also holding a larger percentage of weekday auctions compared with the combined capitals average (14.0%) with 15.6% of this week’s auctions scheduled during the week.  The LGA of Blacktown in Western Sydney is scheduled to host the most auctions this week (63).

There are 748 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne this week, down -13.4% from 864 held last week and -25.2% less than the 1,000 homes auctioned this week last year. Unit auctions represent 35.7% of this week’s activity, significantly more than the 17.4% recorded last week. The south eastern LGA of Monash is set to be the busiest auction area this week with 51 auctions scheduled, whilst the traditionally summer seasonal market in Mornington Peninsula LGA is set to host only seven auctions. 

Auction activity across the smaller capital cities remains steady, with 320 auctions scheduled, up 3 from the 317 auctions held last week. Brisbane continues to have the highest number of auctions among the smaller capitals, with 125 homes scheduled for auction, down -10.1% from last week (139). This is followed by Adelaide with 105 homes scheduled for auction, down three auctions from last week (108), and Canberra’s hosting 80, up 53.8% relative to last week (52). In Perth, nine homes are scheduled for auction, five less than last week, while one home is scheduled for auction in Tasmania.

Capital city auction activity is expected to reduce by roughly -13% next week, with around 1,600 homes currently scheduled for auction.

Last week 1,945 homes were auctioned across the combined capitals, an increase of 88.3% on the long weekend-affected week prior. The final clearance rate was 69.2%, the second week in a row that the combined capitals clearance rate was below 70%. It may be a sign of some cooling in selling conditions following the RBA rate rise earlier this month.

By Duane Kaak, Research Analyst, CoreLogic Australia